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Army aviator Reuben H. Fleet. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

2 arrested in theft from estate of aviation pioneer R.H. Fleet

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

Army aviator Reuben H. Fleet. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Army aviator Reuben H. Fleet. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
SAN DIEGO (AP) – San Diego County authorities have arrested two people accused of stealing military memorabilia, artwork and other items from a family estate of aviation pioneer Reuben H. Fleet.

The Sheriff’s department says 29-year-old Edward Peek and his girlfriend, 35-year-old Nicole Denny, were taken into custody Tuesday after they were found in possession of property belonging to the house in San Marcos.

They were booked on counts of grand theft.

Detectives searched Denny’s vehicle and Peek’s storage unit and recovered jewelry, antique furniture, oil paintings, and other property belonging to the Fleet family.

Fleet, who died in 1975, was an aviator in World War I. He brought Consolidated Aircraft, which later became Convair, to San Diego in the mid-1930s.

The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park is named for him.

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AP-WF-02-12-14 1539GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Army aviator Reuben H. Fleet. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Army aviator Reuben H. Fleet. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.